A Ridiculously Overdue Update

Sorry for the lack of posting!! Life has been crazy busy with full-time work, full-time school and trying to get a side project I have built up into an actual business. Right now I am enrolled in Anatomy & Physiology I, Statistics and Organic Chemistry. It has been real difficult trying to balance both work and school. I submitted my first completed grad school application today so wish me luck!

The most important medical update comes from the orthopedic surgeon. Basically, my legs are a mess. It is going to require extensive surgery and rehabilitation to fix them, but I really do not have another option right now. My hips and knees are being damaged by the rotation of my legs and all the soft tissue abnormalities that go with it, so it is time to fix it before it gets worse.

My orthopedic surgeon is consulting with a specialist to see how the surgery would go. I'm not sure if it is just my tibias that need derotaion, or if the femurs need it as well. Hopefully I will get some answers soon.

But WHY Did This Happen??

I am almost recovered from my wisdom tooth surgery. I spent most of the time sleeping and today I went to check on my Netflix statistics and I watched somewhere along the lines of 19 episodes of Law & Order, both SVU and Criminal Intent, 8 episodes of Weeds and 21 episodes of The Office. But I promise this is not actually true as I kept the player going even when I was asleep. I promise.

Anyway, the teeth are healing nicely, I suppose since it's kind of hard to look down there. I did have one massive blood clot form that I was sure was going to destroy the rest of my teeth. But it, and all of its disgusting-ness is starting to go away. I am no longer swollen, but my regular prednisone rotundness is apparent. Stitches come out Saturday and that's that!

oral

Looking back on it, I freaked out more than I really needed to. I have never had a cavity or any other tooth problem in my life. So why did my wisdom teeth cause so many problems? I guess its one of those things, like lupus, that the body does and we can never really figure it out.

Out of Wisdom

So my wisdom tooth extraction went fine, minus one freak out I had when the nitrous oxide mask was knocked off and I was convinced hey were going to snap my jaw in two. Right now I'm not in a lot of pain but I have a ridiculously large blood clot in the space where one of the teeth used to be that won't stop bleeding and swallowing all the blood is making me feel a little sick. But I have stayed in bed for the most part and watched Netflix streaming video more than I care to admit. I love Netflix.

I am scheduled for an MRI on Thursday of my neck. I have a lump there that I previously wrote about being an extra rib. However the doctors want absolute confirmation of that especially since I have been having so much pain in my chest and jaw recently. I'm going to ask to be sedated because I tend to freak out after about 15 minutes in that little tube.

That's all for now. The weather is extremely stormy and I am loving it because I feel no obligation to expose my chipmunk cheeks to the world. I am scheduled to work tomorrow, but I think I will be up to the task.

Sun and Prednisone

I spent all day yesterday in the sun without any protection. We had a family cookout and most of it took place in the back yard of my cousin's house which has very few trees. It was a lot of fun, but by the time 11 pm rolled around and we finally left I was totally nauseated and achy. I spent most of the night up with my stomach and joints. If it weren't for my nemesis and savior prednisone, I'd still be in pretty bad shape.

I'm not completely over yesterday. I'm still achy and really, really tired. Being out like that was a doubly bad idea since I have been feeling "off" for almost a week now. I can't pinpoint the problems, but something has been up. Maybe my most recent blood test results will show something.

I am scheduled to have all four of my wisdom teeth out on Friday. They are all pretty impacted so I am not too thrilled about getting them out. I have been putting off this surgery for about 8 years now. The cost will be about $900 dollars and that's more than I can mentally wrap my head around spending to be swollen and in pain. But I was finally convinced I need them done and after rescheduling twice, the time has almost come.

I am a little worried about being on the prednisone now that I have decided to have the teeth pulled. I know prednisone can delay healing and increase risk of infection. Since my doctor is 2+ hours from my house (cheapest I could find), I would really rather not have any complications. I was going to stay at my aunt and uncle's for the weekend, but know that I would much rather be at home. The plan is to fill my pain medicine out there and then come home that night. If any problems occur, then we will just deal with them then.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Apartment Lovin'

i am loving living in this apartment. I can cook when I want, watch TV if I wake up in the middle of the night...do really whatever I please. I love it. I cooked "taco pie" tonight. Forgot the salsa, but thats OK. I plan out my meals so that I do not spend too much money on groceries. This week is the taco pie, chicken scallopini and ravioli if I run out of meals.

I thought I may be getting a cold earlier, but I do not think so anymore. I also have an appointment with my rheumatologist on Thursday for a regular check up. I just have to remember to call in the referral.

I'm healing pretty well from surgery. I can see the stitches popping out of my abdomen. Its disconcerting to see thread popping out of there.

3/6, 2/4

I had 3 out of my 6 classes today. They seem OK. My class on plagues seem really interesting, I just wish the professors would post the PowerPoint slides already so I could take notes since I didn't during class.

It snowed (once again...) today. I forgot all of my boots back at home. Luckily, my aunt who lives close to my school is in Boston so she can bring them up to me when she comes back. But today I had to walk around in my sneakers with a hole. Hopefully I don't get sick from having wet feet all day!

The snow is bothering me so much. I don't know what it is about the snow this year. I have lived in New England my entire life. I know what the winters are like. But for some reason I am having a real hard time putting up with it this season.

Anyway, I've never been to one of the building where one of my classes is tomorrow. I have 15 minutes to get there from my previous class. Hopefully I do not have too much trouble finding it. I hate being late for class, especially on the first day.

I have 2 out of the 4 coverings on my surgery incisions come off. They hurt. I am considering putting a band-aid over them so that they don't rub against my clothes. I had some trouble walking around today and I woke up early because my joints ver painful. I think I will take a Tylenol PM tonight. I have to get up at 7:30 in the morning to make sure I have time to make something to eat and shower and all that. My apartment is not as centally located as my dorm, so I also have to leave a little earlier than I would have if I was still in the dorm.

But so far so good. I love having my own room and all the perks of an apartment. Looking forward to catching up with friends this weekend also.

Do I Have To?

Classes start tomorrow. Blah. I don't feel in the going to class mood. I don't have 9/10 books for my psych/lit class. I simply don't want to go.

I moved fully into the apartment yesterday. I spent $109 on groceries. Terribly expensive.

It was my frist time driving and doing much of anything since the surgery. I was able to tolerate it, though I was in pain. I fell asleep early and woke up with my joints and stomach in a lot of pain.

On Saturday night had a scary amount of pain. I thought and ambulance would have to be called. I started to hyperventilate because I couldn't take a full breath in because the pressure on my stomach it caused was too much. I got lightheaded because I couldn't breathe properly. Thankfully it passed. I'm not sure what happened. I barely ate yesterday and don't feel much like eating today although I need to get something in me.

But I am still here. So hopefully my first day of classes and everything goes well.

Surgery Done...Recovery Not so Much

It's been a rough week. A lot of pain, more than I expected. I found out today when I called because I am still not able to wealk around that they had some trouble during the surgery inserting an instrument and it got stuck. This explains the pain I have been having on my left side even though I have no incisions there. I'm still aiming for going back to school on Sunday. However, it might be difficult for me to walk around my gigantic campus so I will see if I am up for that.

I'm still taking the pain medicine, especially at night. Hopefully I can wean off of that soon, but this injury has caused there to be more pain than I had anticipated.

Tomorrow

So the surgery is tomorrow. I am quite nervous. And that's really it. Wish me luck! I will update as soon as I am able.

Pre-Op Done, Now I Just Have the Op

So I had my pre-op appointment on Thursday. It was pretty simple. The anesthesiologist seemed completely overwhelmed by my medical history, so hopefully that won't be a problem. I got blood drawn from a wonderful lady who was so gentle I didn't feel it at all!

Today I went up to move the big stuff into my apartment. My dad saw it for the first time and he was very impressed. It's a great space. It is not a shared closet, and I am very thankful for that.

I also found out that my grandma is coming up Sunday from New York City to help take care of me after the surgery. I looooooove my grandma, so I am very, very happy about that.

I also have to shower for three days in a row with this special red soap to help kill bacteria on my skin.

Surgery is scheduled for 11:30 am on Monday and I need to arrive at the hospital at 10 am.

Dates

So I am having my gall bladder removed on January 11, which is a little later than I hoped. From everything I read it can take about 2 weeks to start to feel normal again, even with a laproscopic approach. Hopefully that will not be the case because I move back to school January 18. I decided to hold off on my wisdom teeth until May 28 because I do not think my body will handle both surgeries in such a small amount of time.

Also having the surgery later means I have more time to worry about it. And of course I am. I have had surgery before, but always because they were looking for something or removing something that was not supposed to be there. Not to remove a whole organ. I handle anesthesia pretty well - I had a small problem with my heart racing too fast and making me feel short of breath the first time - but that went away in a day or two. I never got sick to my stomach and, really, I spent most of the next few days sleeping. Thats not the part that bothers me. It's the part about removing part of my internal plumbing.

But anyway, I have done nothing but relax the past couple days. I am going to roast my very first chicken tonight, so we will see how that goes. I love to cook, and I love chicken. But I have never cooked anything bigger than a cornish hen (my favorite dinner). So this much larger chicken should be intersting. I am making it with thyme and lemon and it will be accompanied with roasted pecan and gralic bulgur and garlic spinach. Should be tasty!

Phew!

So sorry for the lack of posts. I finished my finals on Friday and got back home that night. This is the first time I have turned on my computer since then and I even turned off my phone for a while. I went out socially for the first time tonight for my friend's birthday. So I have really just been trying to get my head screwed back on because I think I lost it for a while toward the end of the semester. :)

I met with the surgeon for my gall bladder today. I will be having the surgery, after much anxiety and whatnot. I HATE the idea. I feel like God put it in me for a reason, how can it be taken out with no ill effect? I thought I was at peace with my decision, but I got into a big argument with my aunt just a few minutes ago that has me second guessing my decision all over again. In fact, I had planned to go to sleep an hour and a half ago, but I took her call and now I'm too wound up and anxious to go to fall asleep.

I do not have a date for the surgery, but the scheduler is trying to work it out so that it is next week or the week after so school will not be an issue.

I also found out that lupus has damaged my kidneys a bit. The radiologist noticed it when I had the ultrasound of my belly for my gall bladder. So that explains why I sometimes spill protein into my urine. From my understanding, it is common in mild lupus kidney disease to have protein be found in your urine and then have it disappear during the next test, even if it is just a couple days later.

I had another round of antibody testing that came out fine, even though my joints have been very painful and I have an amount of fatigue that I feel is unusual. I took a nap today! I never do that. I need to speak to my rheumatologist to ask if the medicine can suppress blood tests even when I feel symptoms. My symptoms are very lupus like with the joint pain, fatigue, sun sensetivity and I also have been running fevers up to 100 every day for a couple of weeks now. But maybe I am stressing myself out. I had finals and the end of the semester and now I have to worry about my gall bladder, wisdom teeth and kidneys.

I plan on getting a lot of rest. I really need it.

Rough Week

Well, classes are over so I just have this week of finals. My first one is today from 4-6 and I will be so happy when it is done. It is for my class on world religions and that class has been an unnecessary struggle for no reason. I've been trying to figure out why. I just don't think anything was made clear. We got a lot of information, but none of it seemed contextualized to me.

I have had a lot of trouble with my stomach. It took me a long time to fall asleep last night because of pain and I woke up with pain too. Also a migraine. I got something to eat so I could take my medicine and luckily it has not made me sick. I really hope my gall bladder/liver/pancreas/whatever holds on until I can see the surgeon in a week. I have been running a slight fever, so I'm really trying to be conscious about how I am feeling.

Today I sign the papers to move into the apartment for next semester! So that's great news and I am really excited to get my own room and have a kitchen and bathroom I only have to share with 1-4 other people and not 34.

I cannot wait to go home. I just do not feel well. But I really want to get my finals over with. My hardest two are first. I have no exams on Wenesday, so that will be a nice break.

I also see my primary care doctor tomorrow. I got my antibody tests done again because I had not been feeling well. But of course I can flare without them being positive. So who knows what is going on. It might just be due to what is going on in my stomach.

So for now, I just have to get through this week without my stomach having a meltdown on me.

Found Out What Was Wrong

Soo...I need surgery. Within the next couple weeks. My gall bladder is not working like it should so it needs to be removed soon. I'm risking a serious infection if I do not get it out, so ASAP is ideal. I called the surgeons at the hospital I use at home and left a message to see when is the soonest I can get in. If it is not in the next couple weeks then I will have to use the hospital out by my school. I want to be at home because I live there and I know I will just want to curl up in my own bed after the surgery.

I'm not too happy about this. So hopefully I can keep infection at bay until I can figure all this stuff out.